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Science Express big hit among students

With India hosting the 11th meeting of Conference of Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity (COP 11), the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has dedicated eight of its 16 coaches of Science Express exhibition on wheels for showcasing India’s vast biodiversity spread across its vast geographical zones.

Inaugurated on June 5 this year, the exhibition has turned out to be a major success and is attracting more than 10,000 students every day. A teacher from a school in Bellary said, “Finally, rural students have got a chance to see India’s biodiversity in great detail.”

At Ranchi, the train drew a crowd of 80,000 students and teachers in one day. At Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, kids waited in a queue of over three hours to get a glimpse of India’s vast environmental heritage.

The praise is not restricted to urban kids. For rural children, getting to learn that Kerala has 6,000 documented species of insects with more to be named is interesting or that the purple frog was discovered only nine years ago.

This train has already covered 32 destinations and has travelled a distance of 18,000 km. It is expected to cover another 20 destinations before concluding its journey at Gandhinagar on December 22 2012.